Ben Affleck jokes about Oscars marriage speech on ‘SNL’

Ben Affleck invited his wife Jennifer Garner to join him on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend as he poked fun at his infamous Oscars speech, which sparked rumors of marriage trouble.

Affleck prompted speculation about problems at home when he thanked Garner for “working on our marriage for 10 Christmases” after scooping an Academy Award for “Argo” in February – but he played up the gossip for laughs during his hosting gig on the sketch show.

In his opening monologue, Affleck explained, “I thanked my wife while saying the essence of marriage is work. Some uncharitable souls on the Internet took that to mean our marriage is some kind of manual labor. That’s not it,” and then brought the actress onstage to “disprove the naysayers.”

Garner went along with the gag, ranting, “I’m not sure why you had to share it live to a billion people!” to which he replied, “But our marriage is a work of love. What would you have called it in a speech?”

She shot back, “A gift. Our marriage is a gift,” and he turned solemn as he said, “I want to tell you how I wish I had ended that speech: I couldn’t do any of the things I do without you, without your support. You’re my angel, my wife, my world.”

The touching moment was then ruined when Garner pointed out that he was reading his lines from a cue card.

The episode, which featured performances by rapper Kanye West, was the finale of the 38th season as well as the last episode for departing SNL veteran Bill Hader.